Chronicling my adventures in proving that less is more. I'll learn to refashion/recycle clothes, prepare gourmet meals using as many natural/basic/raw ingredients as possible. I'll learn to spend less, live more, and reclaim those things that are truly valuable in my life.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

I Did It! My Very First Thrift Store Refashion Project: Dress to Skirt

So, I have some very exciting news. I was the lucky winner (highest bidder) on a used Necchi 535FA sewing machine. I picked my sewing machine up for under $60.00 with shipping. If you had read my earlier blogs I had purchased a new Singer about a year ago with terrible results. The tension was a mess and the plastic reverse lever stripped off on my very first attempt to sew. I promptly returned it for a refund, dreaming of the very expensive Husqvarna Viking that would one day be mine. I finally go tired of hand sewing and set about finding a machine. This baby is all metal, solid and purrs like a kitten. It worked perfect out of the box and even though I have no idea what I'm doing is super easy to use. I'm not stoked abuot the 4 step button hole, but hey, at least it makes one! So, for my very first sewing project I made my stepfather a bag to cover his birthday gift out of the discarded sweat pant legs that I had laying around in my scrap pile. But tonight I have finished my very first sewing refashion. I recently went thrifting at Goodwill and bought enough close to supplement my wardrobe for the entire year for the cost of one jacket at Nordstrom's. A few of them fit right off the rack and a few were even new with tags from New York & Co. and Target. The best though were my works of art waiting to be realized. For about $4.00 a piece I bought some beautiful dresses that were all too big. Lucky for me I dislike dresses anyway, so I wouldn't feel bad about cutting them up and making them look much cooler. My very first project that I completed tonight was to take a rather boring 80's light cotton dress and turn it into a skirt. This was super easy, even for a total novice like myself. It took me about an hour (yes, mom I should be doing my finance homework, but a girl needs a little fun sometimes!), but that's because I am super slow on the machine and I had to craft a drawstring belt. Luckily the dress had two ties, so I cut them off and then cut the dress off at the armpits. I folded the waist down to make the skirt the lenght that I liked (about 2") and then I sewed a medium zigzag stich all the way around to form my casing. Finally, I noted that the two strings weren't quite long enough to give me the length that I needed for a belt. However, I took a t-shirt from the scrap bin, cut the bottom hem off and sewed into the middle of my two matching strings. This way,the tshirt part is in the casing where no one will see it anyway, and my belt is now the perfect length. I used a safety pin and ran it through the end of the string, snipped a little hole in the front of my casing and inched the safety pin dragging the belt through and out the other side. My new green and purple paisley skirt is adorable and fits like a dream. Best of all, the drawstring waist hides all of my newbie sewing sins. My husband joked that I looked like a hippie, but when this summer's 90 degree weather hits and I'm rocking my new featherweight cotton skirt I think I'll get the last laugh.

*I don't have a working camera yet, but as soon as I do I'll post pictures of how the skirt would look as a dress and how it looks now.

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Chronicling my adventures in proving that less is more. I'll learn to refashion/recycle clothes, prepare gourmet meals using as many natural/basic/raw ingredients as possible. I'll learn to spend less, live more, and reclaim those things that are truly valuable in my life.

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About Me

Like a swiss army knife, I’m a snowboarder, competitive downhill mountain biker, yoga practicioner, wife + mother, dog lover, cook, treehugging creator of things trying to save the world and myself at the same time. I enjoy refashioning Tshirts and other recycled materials into fun and practical clothing and accessories.

Projects I Love and Want to Make

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